Incinerator



Nov. 26, 1968 w. s. EHRENZELLER ETAL 3,412,696

INCINERATOR Filed March 26, 1965 6 SheetsSheet l Wes/2y 5 [firenzd/er Dom/d 17. 60

INVENTOR5 AT TORNE Y Nov. 26, 1968 w. s. EHRENZELLER ETAL 3,412,696

' INCINERATOR Filed March 25, 1965 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Il es/ey 5. [brand/er Dam/d (a// INVENTOR5 ATTORNEY Nov. 26, 1968 w. s. EHRENZELLER ETAL 3,412,696

INCINERATOR Filed March 25, 1965 6 Sheets-Sheet a Dana/d 17. 6a

INVENTORS BY @M ATTORNEY Nov. 26, 1968 w. s. EHRENZELLER ETAL 3,412,696

INCINERATOR Filed March 25, 1965 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 p d o Z T R m w T 5% M 5M 4 am Nov. 26, 1968 w. s. EHRENZELLER ETAL 3,412,696

INCINERATOR 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 25, 1965 War/e; 5. f/zrmze/kr 0004/4 A. [d// INVENTORS BY ATTORNEY Nov. 26, 1968 w. s. EHRENZELLER ETAL 3,412,696

INCINERATOR Filed March 25, 1965 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Fig.

Wax/4y S. i/rrenzfl/er INVENTORS ATTOR N E Y United States Patent 3,412,696 INCINERATOR Wesley S. Ehrenzeller, Hanover, and Donald H. Call, West Roxbury, Mass., assignors to American Design and Constructor Corporation, North Abington, Mass.

Filed Mar. 25, 1965, Ser. No. 447,593 4 Claims. (Cl. 1108) This invention relates to an incinerator apparatus and the method of the type to be used to dispose of municipal wastes such as combustible refuse or trash, including paper products, garbage and all other organic materials as well as incombustible materials such as glass, tin cans, etc. More specifically the present invention relates to the combination of a novel type tuyere for extremely efiiciet and uniform combustion and reduction of all organic and inorganic matter in the bed of the incinerator with efficient novel clean-out arrangements for removing the fused residue operable either manually or by novel automatic means, and including novel screen means for retaining fly-ash within the main body of the incinerator while providing means for returning smaller particles capable of passing through said screen and hot air to be returned by a separate emission duct to the combustion area of the incinerator. The present invention relates to other combinations of novel means for effecting a most efficient, economical apparatus to dispose of all municipal refuse, whether combustible or not, and thus eliminate objectionable dumps which heretofore have been necessarily adjacent to all municipalities, cities and towns, etc. of the country. In addition the present invention includes novel means for controlled charging of the incinerator with accumulated refuse of all kinds of waste materials.

While it is true that the incinerator art is an old one and in limited present-day operation throughout the country, they have nevertheless proven prohibitively expensive to build and operate, very ineflicient in that complete combustion is not often attained, constant shut-downs for cleaning and repairs are necessary, and usually only partially useful for the disposal of all refuse such as newspapers, wooden boxes, garbage, and other sundry articles of organic material in combination with much inorganic material which is not heat volatile, but rather meltable or fuseable at high temperatures. In addition such common incinerators are notorious eye-sores to the surrounding communities, creating escaping offensive odors, smoke and gaseous products of combustion. All these objectionable and undesirable effects tends to depreciate land values in the adjacent areas.

Accordingly one object of this invention is to provide an incinerator assembly with a novel wind box with tuyeres therein which causes complete and uniform combustion of all dry or wet organic matter at very high controlled temperatures.

A further object of this invention is to provide such tuyeres which effect complete efficient combustion at such high temperatures as to melt all noncombustible material for periodic removal from the incinerator bed without necessarily removing all the bed contents for continuous useful combustion in the incinerator.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novelly designed screen at the upper section of the incinerator for more effective retention of fiy-ash within said incinerator in conjunction with means for returning all other fly-ash small enough to pass through said screen and hot gases to the combustion chamber of said incinerator for further consummation.

Another object is to provide means whereby the elimination of selective handling and/or charging of the incinerator is effected.

Another object is 'to provide means for the consummation of rather large quantities of wet materials, such Patented Nov. 26, 1968 as garbage; reduce metal and glass articles such as tin cans, bicycles, bottles, etc., to their lowest common denominator in a fused state, thus avoiding selective feeding or mechanical separation without or within the combustion chamber.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide the incinerator with a novel manually or automatically operated clean-out means for predetermined quantities of fused residue in said incinerator.

To effect these objects and such other objects as may appear hereinafter, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the complete assembly of the incinerator with parts broken away at various sections thereof to show the details of some of the important components thereof in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a magnified cross-sectional view of the fly-ash retention screen on line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a magnified cross-sectional plan view of the wind-box tuyeres taken on line 33 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an air port tuyere shown in FIGURE 3 to more clearly illustrate the details and operation of adjustable doors controlling the air flow to the combustion area of the incinerator;

FIGURE 5 is a detailed cross-section view of the cleanout arrangement below the wind box showing the two exit hatch doors thereof, one in open position and the other in closed position; with a hopper car thereunder in position for catching and removing the clean-out ma terial away from the incinerator;

FIGURES 6, 7, 8 and 9, 10, 11 are sequential views of the revolving drum mechanism which actuates the downward swinging clean-out hatch doors underneath the windbox, showing the cam-action which initially serves to lock the hatch doors closed, and also serves to release them.

FIGURES 12 and 13 are plan and elevation views, respectively, of one preferred method of charging the refuse into the combustion chamber.

FIGURES 14 and 15 are plan and elevation views, respectively, of another preferred method of charging the refuse into the combustion chamber.

FIGURE 16 is a sectional plan view showing the general arrangement of the fresh air intake and damper linkages for fresh air and emission return intakes to the forced draft fan.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, the overall device consists of a raised receiving building, generally indicated as A which is of any suitable construction such as metal or masonry with preferably a concrete floor 20, ventilation louvers 21 near the floor, windows 22 near the caves, and either continuous or intermittent ridge vents 23 at the roof ridge. At the end of the receiving building there should be an ofiice area 24 containing, in addition to usual office appurtenances, an indicator panel 25 which include certain emergency controls considered necessary to the safe overall operation and supervision of the incinerator complex. Receiving doors (not shown) might be located on either or both sides of the building as may be convenient to the operation.

At the opposite end of the receiving building is located a main control console 26 for the remote operation of the various components. Also .at this end is a charging chute with an outside attached hopper, generally indicated by the letters B and D, respectively, described in detail in the following paragraphs. The charging chute is directly connected from the receiving building to the tower or stack of the incinerator, generally indicated by the letter C, and which contains the main components to be described in detail in the following paragraphs. In the partial section of the stock C can be seen the lower end of the charging B as well as the general location of an electric eye control 8182, the wind box E and residue spout and flow pan F. Below the receiving building A can be seen the forced draft fan G and: a duct H from the fan G to the wind box E. Near the top portion of the stack C is a circular maintenance platform J, a multisided stainless steel vertical screen K, a. frusto-conical solid cap L with its attendant vertical tube M and explosion relief cap P, and finally an emission return duct N which joins the intake portion of the forced draft fan G at the foot of the stack.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, a partial plan section taken along the lines 2-2 of FIGURE 1, a general correlation of the upper tower components may be readily understood as the aforementioned components 'are hereon reiterated, to wit: platform I with guard railings 27, multi-sided stainless steel screens K with adequate framing members 28, frusto-conical solid cap L, explosion relief tube M and cap P and emission return duct N with its attendant bracing 29 as required for safe construction.

FIGURE 3, in its partial sectional plan View on line 33 of FIGURE 5, shows correlative positioning of the combustion area generally indicated by the arrow 30, enclosed by an outer metal shell 31 which is, in essence, the main structural member of the stack, extending from the supporting legs and base upward to the platform area near the top of the stack. Immediately Within the outer shell 31, continuously from bottom to top is an insulating layer of high temperature fire brick 32, with three or more tiers or rows of apertures or tuyeres 33 around the periphery of the combustion area. Shown in this FIGURE 3 and in FIGURE 5, is one preferred arrangement of these apertures 33 in which the top and bottom rows of apertures have damper-type doors 34 (see also FIGURE 4), hinged as at 35 to draw into the combustion area the forced air received in the wind box E from the forced draft fan G via the duct H. As can be noted in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5, the damper doors are controlled individually by means of a threaded bolt 36 with bolthead 36a, rotatably maintained in the outer walls 37 of the wind box E and threadedly engaged through a pivotally maintained nut 38 within damper doors 34, as more readily seen in FIGURE 4 which is an enlarged sectional view of this arrangement. The tuyere system as here described is a critical feature of the disclosed invention as applied to the present incinerator structure.

Referring again to FIGURE 5, as well as FIGURE 3, it can be seen that the wind box E surrounds the tuyere assembly circumferentially about the cylindrical stack shell 31, and that this arrangement, together With the supplemental fuel as hereinafter described, generates most efliciently, quickly, and effectively the extreme high temperature desirable in the reduction of Waste to 2% or less by volume, and resulting in the molten residue, which when cooled by the atmosphere, is virtually odorless, and could conceivably be ground up for use as sanitary land zfill, concrete aggregate, or other, as yet undiscovered uses.

In FIGURE are shown other components pertinent to the disposal of the molten effluent (or residue) such as the residue spout 39 and a portion of the hingedly movable flow pm 40. Supporting the tower structure are legs 41, beams 42 and joists 43 and metal floor pan 44. Hatch doors 45, one in open position, the other in closed position, are hingedly afiixed to the floor joists 43 and are actuated by cammed roller drums 46 which co-act upon rollers 47 attached to one end of arms 48 which at their opposite ends are rigidly .affixed (by welding, bolting or other suitable means) to the leading portion of the undersideof the hatch doors 45, such edge being stiffened by a structural member 450. (See FIGURE 6.) This cammed roller action is further described in following paragraphs. Preferably mounted upon rails or tracks of suitable nature is a rolling hopper car 49 to receive cleanout residue whenever required. It will be further noted that a layer of hard packed sand 44a is placed upon the floor of the burn area in such a manner as to provide a slope toward the eflluent spout and simultaneously effecting insulating bed for the burn area. This insulating bed may, however, be constructed of other high temperature materials of a more permanent nature .and may actually be a part of the floor and of the hatches as well. There are several functions of the cleanout as follows: (1) to restore the insulation bed (sand) when necessary; (2) to restore the refractory lining (fire brick, spray type plastic refractory lining); (3) for safety inspection such as weaknesses in the wall of the stack which would require repairs to prevent possible explosions due to cracks or fracture causing hot spots and finally breaks, such possible explosions which could be extremely disastrous.

FIGURES 6, 7, 8, and 9, 10, 11 are self-explanatory as they depict the various positions of one hatch door 45 .and its co-pending arms 48, and cammed drum 46, as the drum is rotated counter-clockwise through degrees, 210 degrees, 300 degrees, 390 degrees, and 425 degrees from the opened position to the closed position. The opposite door operates in a similar manner correspondingly in the opposite direction. Obviously, the reverse procedure is followed to open the doors. Means for rotating the drums are not shown, but it is to be understood that either manual or automatic motive force could be used for this operation.

FIGURES l2 and 13 show the means of one preferred system of charging the waste into the combustion chamber in which there is a receiving hopper 50, a downwardly slanted throat 51, a vertically movable spring loaded drum 52 having suitably shaped teeth or protuberances 53 mounted upon its peripheral surface, such drum being rotatably powered by an electric motor 54 or other means, in a manner which is not shown, but is well known to those practiced in this art, which enables the motor to remain in constant mesh or drive with the drum as it rotates clockwise to urge the waste forcibly into an enclosed trough or chute 55 which also acts as a charging chamber, and thence into the combustion area of the stack. The chute is provided with an access door 56, and two horizontal sliding doors 57 and 58, respectively, termed charging door and charging chamber door, respectively, in sequential manner to receive, hold, and discharge the waste as required to keep the combustion chamber at proper and constant operating temperatures. Another very important function of these sequential co-acting doors in the charging mechanism is to prevent dangerous flashback and/or undesired admission of air. In addition, the sloped floor 59 of the holding chamber (FIGURE 13) is constructed in a manner which causes vibration (not shown) which, coupled with gravity, allows the waste to slide into the combustion chamber when the door 58 is opened.

FIGURES l4 and 15 show another modified system of charging the waste into the incinerator in which there is a receiving hopper 60, a throat 61, a generally vertically positioned pusher plate 62 actuated by a multiplicity of horizontally mounted hydraulic or air actuated cylinders 63 which urge the waste toward a holding chamber 64 with horizontal sliding doors 65 and 66, respectively, an access door 67 and a vibrating floor 68 as similarly described in the preceding paragraph.

FIGURE 16 shows the plan arrangement of the forced draft fan intake and damper linkages. The quantity of air being introduced is controlled through the use of a fan, wind box and tuyere arrangement to maintain the coke, or other fuel, burning area at high temperatures, and other inter-related components as follows: a fresh air intake 70 of rectangular cross section contains a multiplicity of opposed blade or butterfly dampers 71 which are inter-connectedly linked by means of a drive shaft 73 to another group of opposed dampers 72 located within the throat 74 of an intersecting duct 75 which comprises the lower portion of the emission return duct N hereinbefore described. The two sets of dampers and their attendant linkage are suitably connected by means of a drive shaft 76 to a reversible electric damper motor 77 which is remotely controlled in the receiving building at the main console 26. There is another opposed blade damper 78 located within the conical throat 79 which is actuated by a second damper motor (not shown), remotely controlled from the main console 26. Also, there is a frusto-conical throat 79 connected to a flexible duct 80 to the intake portion of the forced draft fan G. Hence, it can be seen that a suitable arrangement has been devised for the effective admission of fresh air together with the re-introduction of undestroyed waste matter and hot air via the return emission duct N. The primary purpose of return duct N is to return the escaping hot air into the combustion chamber and thus reduce the use and cost of the supplementary fuel, and also to maintain the constant high temperatures necessary for the reduction of the non-combustibles as well as to eliminate offensive odor and smoke.

In summarizing the operation, waste is deposited in the receiving building A, emptied into the charging hopper D, metered thence into the combustion area 30, through chute B with an over-riding electric eye control 81 and 82 to prevent overload, incinerated quickly and thoroughly, screened efficiently at K at the top to prevent undesired disbursal of unburned fly-ash waste, safety valved with an explosion relief cap M, through a return emission duct N for undevoured waste, and having adequate means for removal of non-combustible materials and re- 5 sulting in a residue efiiuent and a means of access for cleaning and inspection via hatch doors 45 or through access door 56 of chute B.

It has been found that in order to completely burn municipal rubbish including organic and inorganic materials as referred to hereinabove, temperatures of from about 2,500 degrees F. to about 3,500 degrees F., and preferably above 2,800 degrees F., are required to produce smokeless and odorless incinerator operation conditions within the confined space of the same. In order to effect these temperatures, it is necessary that a supplementary fuel supply such as coke, coal or other fuel, with proper and ample quantities of air over said fuel, be available for the combustion of municipal refuse of all kinds. The quantity of air being introduced is controlled through the use of a fan, wind box and tuyere arrangement to maintain the coke burning area at high temperatures. One of the important features of the present invention is the multilayer tuyere system, preferably, but not necessarily, staggered, and controlled as to volume of air fed to the chamber at its base (windbox and tuyeres) as described hereinabove producing the results desired. Under favorable conditions even a single layer of tuyeres surrounding the burning area produce favorable results; but multilayer tuyeres, the maximum efficiency. As shown above, it will be apparent that the controlling of the size of the openings and number of said tuyere ports by means hereinabove described, the proper volume of air is available at a uniform rate to all sections of the burning chamber which also effects proper turbulence Within said chamber during burning and prevention of air channeling. In this manner proper high temperatures are sustained to effect a tremendous reduction of all the refuse forms. It has been found that as many as twenty-four or more ports are necessary for obtaining the required results. Such materials as glass, tin cans, tricycles, and other metal objects, mixed in reasonable proportions with paper, boxes, and other combustible materials are reduced to molten mass in liquid form. This type material flowed out from the surface of the base sand bed as a black colored glasslike substance and upon cooling was very hard and adaptable for many uses similar to cinders. No smoke and very little if any objectionable odors are obtained from the incinerator. As an example only of the size of incinerator successful in its present use is noted to be: open spaces under the stack about five feet; height of stack, fifty-two feet; height of the screened section, nine feet; diameter of the stack, ten feet. It will be apparent that variations in the overall proportions can be reasonably ascertained to produce the results sought.

The function of the multi-sided fly-ash screen device is to restrict the passage of solid particles to the outside air without restricting the air flow passing through the stack. It was furthermore found that the use of at least a five-sided screen, and preferably a six (hexagonal) and most effectively an eight sided (octagonal) screen effects an arrangement of maximum air distribution, maximum control of fly-ash, minimum cost and lowest maintenance.

The charging chambers are constructed of such a volume as to facilitate the quantity of supplementary fuel to be added through the chute to the incinerator as well as the waste materials to be disposed; and the charging door and charging chamber door are so arranged that the chamber door is always closed when the charging door is open and vice versa, to eliminate the possibility of creating unnecessary turbulence and draft within the stack as well as to avoid flashback.

It will be apparent that wide variations may be made from the forms of the invention herein disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention and illustrated its use, What is claimed as new and what is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In an incinerator mechanism including a substantially vertical stack, a combustion area adjacent to the bottom thereof, a chute for controlled charging of said incinerator above said combustion area, and means at the bottom of said stack for removing molten incombustible products, the improvement comprising: a wind-box surrounding the outside of the lower area of the combustion area, means for supplying combustion-supporting air from a forced fan mechanism into said wind-box in the direction tangential to said wind-box, a tuyere assembly into which combustion supporting air is supplied from said wind-box into said stack under super-atmospheric pressure, said tuyere assembly having horizontal rows of vertically and horizontally spaced tuyeres for passing said air into the combustion area of said stack, said tuyeres each having regulatable valves situated thereon in the wind-box for controlling the air flow to said combustion area of said stack from said wind-box.

2. The incinerator of claim 1 wherein the tuyeres of the vertically spaced rows are in staggered relationship with each other.

3. The tuyeres of claim 1 wherein the regulatable valves consist of hinged doors at one end thereof with means for controlling the opening of said doors in the direction of the air flow in said wind-box.

4. The tuyeres of claim 1 wherein the controls for the opening of said doors extend to the outside Wall of said wind-box.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 796,751 8/ 1905 Nimmo.

952,737 3/1910 Hazelton -120 2,121,465 6/ 1938 Berg 26629 2,698,587 1/1955 Knipe et al 110-18 X 2,800,093 7/1957 Burg 11028 2,804,031 8/1957 Douglass 11018 2,850,991 9/1958 Thompson 11018 2,915,025 12/1959 Stevenson 11018 FOREIGN PATENTS 18,291 1889 Great Britain.

FREDERICK L. MATTESON, JR., Primary Examiner.

H. B. RAMEY, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN AN INCINERATOR MECHANISM INCLUDING A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL STACK, A COMBUSTION AREA ADJACENT TO THE BOTTOM THEREOF, A CHUTE FOR CONTROLLED CHARGING OF SAID INCINERATOR ABOVE SAID COMBUSTION AREA, AND MEANS AT THE BOTTOM OF SAID STACK FOR REMOVING MOLTEN INCOMBUSTIBLE PRODUCTS, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING: A WIND-BOX SURROUNDING THE OUTSIDE OF THE LOWER AREA OF THE COMBUSTION AREA, MEANS FOR SUPPLYING COMBUSTION-SUPPORTING AIR FROM A FORCED FAN MECHANISM INTO SAID WIND-BOX IN THE DIRECTION TANGENTIAL TO SAID WIND-BOX, A TUYERE ASSEMBLY INTO WHICH COMBUSTION SUPPORTING AIR IS SUPPLIED FROM SAID WIND-BOX INTO SAID STACK UNDER SUPER-ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE, SAID TUYERE ASSEMBLY HAVING HORIZONTAL ROWS OF VERTICALLY AND HORIZONTALLY SPACED TUYERES FOR PASSING SAID AIR INTO THE COMBUSTION AREA OF SAID STACK, SAID TUYERES EACH HAVING REGULATABLE VALVES SITUATED THEREON IN THE WIND-BOX FOR CONTROLLING THE AIR FLOW TO SAID COMBUSTION AREA OF SAID STACK FROM SAID WIND-BOX. 